Sounders FC’s Mario Martinez: ‘Personally, I would like to stay here for a long time.’

Mario Martinez, as mentioned in the previous post, rejoined Sounders FC on Thursday after serving the past month with the Honduran national team.

Now that he’s back, there is actually a clock counting down on a decision regarding the 23-year-old midfielder. His loan with Seattle is set to expire at the end of the month.

So what does Martinez think of the matter?

“Truth is, I don’t know if I’m going to stay here or not,” he said Thursday through an interpreter. “Personally, I would like to stay here for a long time. The team has treated me really well. I’m happy with the fans and the people, but at the end, I’m not the one who decides.”

The decision, he noted, would be made by the Sounders and Real Espana, the Honduran team that owns his rights.

The Sounders have commented a couple times on the issue in the past couple weeks.

“We’ve started that dialogue,” general manager Adrian Hanauer said two weeks ago. “We would like to keep Mario. We’re currently in conversation with his representation and the club to try and keep him.”

Coach Sigi Schmid added: “I think he’s done well. He’s a player who can help us and I think things will work out.”

Schmid had been in talks with the Honduras coach to keep Martinez out of July’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, another indicator a deal will be worked out.

Martinez, otherwise, said his time with national team didn’t go as expected, as a 1-2 mark in three World Cup qualifiers has the nation in fourth place in the CONCACAF standings.

Tuesday’s loss to the U.S. came at the expense of club teammates Eddie Johnson and Brad Evans.

Asked if it was weird playing against those familiar faces, Martinez said, “Everyone has to defend their own national team. We wished luck to each other before the game and … at the end, they came out up top.”